Do you love paperwork? If you are like most of my peeps, the answer is a resounding "NOPE." Let me tell you, when I started my journey as a Professional Organizer I did not think that I would love dealing with paperwork; I used to work in a public library where we had to file government documents and omg did I hate that part of my job. Talk about tedious. I. Hated. It.

Books? I could deal with books. That was fun. But moving around pieces of paper and putting them in precise order over and over again? UGH. We could only do it in one hour increments because we'd start going cross eyed otherwise.

So it's sort of funny to me that I ended up dealing with paper as much as I do in my business. I think part of the appeal for me is that it is usually pretty cut and dry and, at its core, quite orderly.

I love setting up systems that create order out of chaos; it's very Zen to me.

I often arrive at a clients' house or home office and they are practically tearing their hair out dealing with oozing piles of paper. Because it's not my personal mess and I have no attachment to it, it's very straightforward to me. There are certain guidelines you need to follow in terms of what to keep (for tax, accounting and personal purposes) and things really do just fall under a handful of categories. So a lot of it is just housekeeping.

But the kid papers and personal, sentimental papers? That stuff can be really harrowing.

I get that. I have two kids and good grief do they have a lot of paperwork.

(Sidenote: There is a clipboard full of current kid paperwork sitting right next to me right now, begging for my attention. Permission slips. Fundraising. Communications with the teachers. Can you relate?)

How in the heck do we deal with all those worksheets, essays, tests, quizzes, artwork and essays that come home? How about the honor roll certificates, the citizenship awards (really?) and the You're A Human Being awards that get passed out and brought home for us to...leave on a table or stick on the fridge until it gets put on top of yet another pile of oozing papers...

I'll tell you how.

I have a lot to say on this topic (like this and this and this) and get asked about it all the time so I decided to give you some of my choicest advice in this video. I hope you find it helpful.

Even if you don't have kids, I'm sure you'll still get something out of it so take a peak while you're sipping your morning coffee. You might just get a new perspective on what to keep and what to ditch. And as Martha would say, "That's a good thing."

Click the image below to watch the video:

PS How do you save your kids' papers? Folders? Boxes? Binders? Does it work well for you? Share in the comments below!